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Overview: Ensuring Supply

Blood and blood products are a critical component of health care. It is the role of the National Blood Authority (NBA) to manage the national blood supply to ensure that healthcare providers have reliable and efficient access to blood and blood products needed for patient care, and that value for money is achieved.

Governments, through the NBA, spend over $1 billion per annum funding the supply of blood and blood products. Blood and blood products are provided to patients free of charge and based on clinical need and appropriate clinical practice.

Supply of blood and blood products relies on the donation of blood. In Australia, the Australian Red Cross Blood Service is responsible for all blood collections, under a contract with the NBA. Ensuring supply requires collection of over one million donations per annum by the Australian Red Cross Blood Service. Most plasma derived products used in Australia are manufactured by CSL Behring from plasma collected by the Australian Red Cross Blood Service under the CSL Australian Fractionation Agreement. In addition, security of the blood supply also relies on the NBA procuring blood products from overseas. These products are either not manufactured in Australia or the Australian system is unable to produce enough product to meet demand.

The NBA ensures a secure supply of blood and blood products in Australia by: